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Andrew McMahon’s solo tour, with friends

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to see Andrew McMahon, formerly of Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin, live for what is now the fifth time (twice with SoCo, twice with Jack’s, and now alone). As has been the case with each concert, it was a bit of an adventure.

The last time I saw him, he was backed by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as part of an experimental program with the Jack’s catalogue. That concert was pretty amazing in its own right, and an example of the outcome can be seen above, with the Jack’s single “My Racing Thoughts.”

This time around was a trip to Brooklyn, where Chris and I saw him at “Warsaw.” Oddly, this is the first time I didn’t see him with some combination of Amie, Megan or Zack, which itself made it feel a bit different because there wasn’t the same level of fanboy/fangirl-ing going on. It was also different because, free of the categorization of one band or another, he plowed through a setlist spanning just about every era of his career to date.

He had a number of people with him (it might’ve been the most musicians, other than the symphony, of course, of any show I’ve seen), including carryovers from the Jack’s tenure, such as Mikey “The Kid” Wagner.

It was quite the show, and really fun to see him break out songs like “Punk Rock Princess,” although I feel like I’m getting old; we left before the encore so we could get home before it got insanely late, so I didn’t see “Konstantine.” I’ve seen it live before, though, so I don’t feel like I really missed out.

The tour was timed around the upcoming release of his first EP officially as a solo artist, “The Pop Underground,” in which lead single “Synesthesia” is available for download if you pre-order the EP. The single can be heard above and suggested a subtly electronic turn for the artist, although it sounds distinctly like his style nonetheless. The EP is out next week and can be pre-ordered from his website.